2013 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 47-54
Introduction: We performed a retrospective analysis to elucidate the effectiveness of tandem autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT) using high dose melphalan for patients with multiple myeloma. Patients and methods: Between October 2001 and August 2011, 53 patients underwent single auto-SCT (singled group) and 49 patients underwent tandem auto-SCT (tandem group) in FBMTG. Conventional chemotherapy was used for the majority patients as induction. The hematopoietic stem cells were mobilized by either cytotoxic chemotherapy or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor alone. Results: The disease status at presentation was compared between the two groups. 5 year overall survival (OS) from the SCT (single 46% vs. tandem 62%, P = 0.007) and 3 year progression free survival (PFS) (single 27% vs. tandem 41%, P = 0.02) were superior in the tandem group. Two patients died due to sepsis early during the first auto-SCT. The incidence of herpes zoster seems to be higher after tandem auto-SCT (2% vs. 20%, P = 0.003). Conclusions: The results of tandem auto-SCT revealed promising, but the current study is a retrospective manner, and selection bias seems to affect the consequence. Accordingly, we couldn’t conclude the superiority of tandem over single, which should be clarified in the future.
